CRAYON Gainer by NEJIMAKI AUDIO is a free gain-staging plugin with an unusual educational angle. Instead of presenting another anonymous gain knob, it uses an animated character called MAKINE to explain what the signal is doing while an automatic mode can help place average level around a practical starting point.

Gain Staging Without the Guesswork

Gain staging is simple in theory but easy to ignore in a busy session. CRAYON Gainer is designed to make the process visible. The plugin analyzes the incoming signal and can help move it toward a sensible working level, roughly around the classic -18 dBFS RMS reference area when Auto mode is used.

That does not mean every track must sit at one magic number. The real value is creating headroom and avoiding accidental overload before later processors exaggerate the problem.

MAKINE Turns Metering Into Feedback

The interface uses the MAKINE mascot to explain clipping, headroom and level behavior in plain visual terms. This makes the plugin especially useful for beginners, but the concept is not limited to education. Even experienced producers can use it as a quick first insert when a session contains samples recorded at wildly different levels.

A Practical Utility Before Analog-Style Plugins

Many analog-modelled compressors, saturators and channel strips respond differently depending on input level. Placing CRAYON Gainer before those processors can create a more predictable starting point and make A/B comparisons easier.

It is also useful when importing stems from several sources, where one file may arrive dramatically louder than another.

Free Windows and macOS Release

CRAYON Gainer was released in July 2026 and is completely free. It is available for Windows and macOS. Version 1.0.1 addressed a WebView2 interface issue on Windows, so users should make sure they download the current build from the developer page.

Simple by Design

This is not a mastering processor or loudness maximizer. It solves a smaller problem: getting signal level into a sensible range before the rest of the chain. The playful interface makes that task less dry without hiding the underlying engineering idea.

At a Glance

Developer: NEJIMAKI AUDIO

Type: Gain staging / level utility

Version: 1.0.1

Price: Free

Platforms: Windows, macOS

Release: July 2026

CRAYON Gainer Video Demo

Download CRAYON Gainer for Free

Get the current free version directly from the official developer page.

Official Download Page

Final Thoughts

CRAYON Gainer is a small utility with a clear purpose, and that focus is exactly why it works. It can normalize the starting point of a messy session, teach newer producers what headroom actually looks like, and stay out of the way once the gain is under control.